Big News!

10

May 3rd, 2013

Can you imagine having these two as older siblings? Fun, fun, fun!

You may remember a post I wrote for Parenting back in March where I laid out the many reasons Nick and I were on the fence about going for the third kid. Well, I found out I was pregnant the day after writing that. So, yes, as some of you probably figured out from the way the post ended, we had already decided to at least try. Of course we had no idea it would happen so fast. We figured we’d give it six months and if it was meant to be, awesome. If not, we’d be fine. And then I got pregnant the very first month, which was shocking but also really great medically speaking. As you know, I have cancer and take a drug that keeps that cancer in remission and I have to be off of it to procreate. The plan, which my oncologist and I mapped out meticulously, was to stop Gleevec a few days before I ovulated and stay off until I either had a positive pregnancy test (in which case, I would remain off until giving birth) or until I got my period, in which case I’d go back on until I ovulated again. Going on and off the drug isn’t ideal but we wanted to limit the amount of time I’d be sans treatment completely (nine months is a long time as anyone who’s been pregnant can tell you so the idea was to add as little to that as possible). I did it this way with Nora and was pregnant on the third month but I recall some stomach issues with the stopping and starting of my hard-core drug so not having to do that was kind of awesome. So apart from just being fertile lucky, we were also cancer lucky. And I am beyond grateful. And for the first time in a long long long time, the should-we-or-shouldn’t-we-debate is off the table.

I honestly still can’t believe it. But I knew it. I was in Massachusetts for my cousin’s baby shower drinking a delicious bloody Mary thinking, what are you doing, Erin? You know you’re pregnant (I was only a day late for my period but I’m never late). Rather than pour another, I switched to water and on the way home from the weekend, I stopped at my sister Meghan’s house and peed on one of her leftover pregnancy tests and, yup, positive. So my sisters knew before Nick. I snapped a pic and texted it to him, which would have been awesome and just our laid-back-about-the-whole-thing speed, but I actually got home before he read it so I just handed him the pee stick. Romantic, right? We were both a little bit in shock and a lot happy and just…wow. And yes, I obsessed about the Bloody and the wine I drank the night before for a decent amount of time. That was exactly two months ago. But that time has flown. Seriously, the weeks have just ticked by as they tend to do when you have two little ones and a full DVR. And apart from being a little more tired and needing to pretty much eat salty snacky crap all day long (some of you picked up on my recent Goldfish and Carvel obsession), I’ve felt great. I certainly have no complaints. I have my blood drawn and shipped to Oregon (where I’ve always been followed) once a month to make sure the cancer stays at bay. So far so good. (It never came back with either of my other two pregnancies, which is why my oncologist was so quick to endorse us trying this time.)

I’m just past my first trimester; I’m due sometime late fall. Just kidding, I’m not a celebrity—I’ll tell you my due date: November 9th. Cool, right? I’ll have 20 days to get settled before I host Thanksgiving. Plenty of time! We don’t know the sex yet, but we will probably find out soon. Our doctor knows because we had the Harmony chromosome blood test done (I’m 35) but I said I didn’t want to know the sex yet when they called with the report. I just wanted to be able to share and enjoy the pregnancy news once I was out of my first trimester (even though I’ve been lucky and never had a problem, I tend to not get too excited about pregnancies until well, well into them—in all honesty, I don’t get fully excited until I see the baby). We haven’t told many people yet and so it’s just starting to feel real. It will feel really real once I hit post on this blog! Nick definitely wants to know the sex so I’m sure I’ll get talked into it sooner rather than later. Which is fine. I honestly don’t care. And I will keep you guys posted, of course.

We told the kids last night and they were predictably excited/confused/sweet/funny/ultimately uninterested. Alex, who had just gotten a buzz cut, said. “Well, a baby is more important than a haircut, right mom? So I guess that will be my optional comment at school because we’re only allowed to share one thing.” So that’s where the news stands in our house right now: It’s officially feeling real, we’re starting to tell people (obviously), the this-is-really-happening panic/excitement is setting in and the importance of this third child ranks somewhere just above a new haircut. Sounds about right. Stay tuned for much, much more!

Congratulations, Erin! So happy to hear such wonderful news! I’m 36 and pregnant with my first, so I also had the Harmony test done, but I didn’t know I could find out the gender from it (it doesn’t matter because my husband and I are waiting to be surprised, but it’s still interesting!).

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I’m a magazine journalist and blogger—I write frequently for Glamour, Redbook, Fit Pregnancy & Baby, Dr. Oz's The Good Life, Marie Claire, HGTV and others covering everything from sex and relationships to health and home design. I overshare about motherhood for YAHOO! and am crazy-passionate about cooking, eating and writing about good food. I'm a 14-year survivor of leukemia and am very involved in a number of charity organizations where I speak, raise money and party for a good cause. Thanks for stopping by!

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In 2001, when I was 23, I was diagnosed with leukemia. 18 months later my sister was diagnosed with lymphoma. This is our story. (Spoiler alert: There's a happy ending!)